Getting to Mallorca

Flights to Mallorca

Palma´s airport is called Aeropuerto de Son San Juan (Catalan: Aeroport de Son Sant Joan). With 23m passengers passing through annually, it is one of the three busiest Spanish airports. There are many flights to Mallorca from North and Central Europe. In summer, there is almost no destination which receives so many flights from Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland and Holland. Most of the airlines are charter flights, or budget carriers (such as EasyJet and Ryanair). You can get one-way tickets for less than €100 or a return for less than €200. In winter the frequency of flights to Mallorca drops significantly, but you still can find a lot of flights from Britain and Germany. From the Spanish mainland there are very frequent air links to Mallorca, especially from Madrid and Barcelona.

By Train, Bus and Ferry to Mallorca

Few people come to Mallorca by ferry nowadays, but those few are still enough to fill up ferries daily. If you are coming from the North the best ferry port is Barcelona. There are also daily ferries from two other Spanish cities, Valencia and Dènia. Almost all ferries go to the ferry terminal of the capital Palma de Mallorca - there are also a couple of ferries to Alcudia in the North West of Mallorca. Normal (not high speed) ferries from Barcelona to Palma need about 8 hours. Most of them travel overnight - typically they leave Barcelona around 11pm and arrive between 6-7 am. The price for a one-way deck passage is about €35-50 Euros. All those ferries are car ferries. If you travel with your car you have to be at the port three hours before departure. The port of Barcelona is not far from the centre and the famous pedestrian area of La Rambla. You can get there easily by the underground. In Palma you can reach the city centre from the port with the frequent city bus (€1.20, Route #1 which also runs to the airport)

Of course, there are also daily ferries sailing to two of the bigger Balearic Islands (Menorca and Ibiza). To Ciutadella on Menorca most ferries sail from Port de Alcudia, but there are also connections from Palma to Menorca (mostly to Mahón). To get to Ibiza you travel from Palma. The ferries between the islands are quite expensive. You should calculate around €30-50 for a ferry to Menorca or Ibiza one way.

There are also fast ferries to the mainland and to Ibiza. They go during the day and are much faster and more expensive.

The big three ferry companies are:

Transmediterranea: Many connections with the Spanish mainland and with the other islands.

Iscomar: Often the cheapest ticket to and from Barcelona. They also have ferries to the other islands.

Balearia: Sailing daily to the mainland and Ibiza.

In Barcelona you should visit the church Sagrada Familia, the Parque Güell and the stadium FC Barcelona.

By Train to Barcelona:
A train journey from Britain, Holland or Germany to Barcelona is expensive. The French rail service does not have many cheap offers. There is a good night train from Zurich in Switzerland for around €120 one-way (daily in summer, 3 times a week in winter). There are also trains during the day and the night from Paris and Strasbourg to the French/Spanish border, where you have to change to the train to Barcelona.

Bus To Spain:
Buses to Barcelona are much cheaper than trains. The company Eurolines offers daily buses for less than €100 from London to Barcelona.